LinkedIn hits a home run by granting publishing access to everyone

Two weeks ago, LinkedIn announced that it would open it's publishing platform for all its users. No longer shall it remain the exclusive territory for brilliant minds such as Richard Branson, Bill Gates, and Conan O'Brien to be able to push their musings to us via LinkedIn. Over the next weeks and months, all 270 million LinkedIn users will have that magic pencil icon available.

This guy writes for LinkedIn...and soon you can too.

I enjoyed reading the Influencer articles, but on the whole, they failed to connect. Richard Branson's ten island sustainability challenge was a great example. Sure, I understood what he was trying to communicate, but really? Not only is the post woefully short on details, but the thing reads like an advertisement. Does anyone else have the means to work with most of the Southeastern Caribbean countries? Oh, I know: I'll just buy ten private islands and do it that way.

Conan's satire was more useful to me than that billionaire bunk. 

Now the filthy unwashed masses of LinkedIn have the ability to post. This is a masterful move on LinkedIn's part. It's brillant, and here's why:


Publishing completes the LinkedIn tool kit:
LinkedIn has already implemented, cloned, or copied the best parts of the existing major social media competitors. Your default home page works like a Facebook "wall" with activity updates from your groups and connections. You can push short mini-blog posts to your connections a la Twitter. Business pages and groups already have similar offerings to a Google+ account.

What was left? The blogosphere. Instead of having to cobble together a decently trafficked blog themselves, users can post to LinkedIn and immediately have an audience of their first and second level connection. This is incredibly valuable, and positions LinkedIn instantly ahead of other blogging platforms. (I should know: I'm trying to succeed there.)

LinkedIn gets quality content for free (eventually):
I mentioned the unwashed masses earlier. There are going to be a lot of nigh-unreadable rants and rambles. Half-baked ideas and thoughts will be everywhere. But luckily, from quantity comes quality. With enough contributions, I expect several decent authors to emerge, and pick up some traffic. If I wasn't intentionally flying under the radar so that I could say whatever I damn well please, I'd be writing there. Corporate and print publications such as Forbes et al. will eventually notice. LinkedIn won't have to shell out a dime for this content.

The cream rises to the top:
Like my previous point, the people with good ideas and the ability to communicate via writing will eventually earn a following. Maybe eventually is the wrong word: let's change that to 'quickly'. LinkedIn already provides ways for otherwise pigeonholed workers (those who lack the time, confidence, or opportunities to effectively network and showcase their talents) to get noticed by a friend of a friend of a friend. The ability to go a step further, and write about your successes and communicate your viewpoints will make the stronger candidates on LinkedIn even more valuable. Likewise, the poseurs who can't even talk the talk will conveniently self-select themselves out.

LinkedIn becomes a better resource for its users, and in turn, its users become more valuable:
Self-explanatory. After going public, this is the type of value-add that LinkedIn needed to offer the public to unlock the value in the platform for shareholders. I don't expect an immediate boost to the bottom line. Rather, I see this as one of the tactical steps in a holistic strategy that would lead to long-term value and profitability. But who knows: I'm not a financial analyst. I'm shooting from the hip.

What do you think about LinkedIn's recent move? I think it is a home run. Do you plan on publishing content? Why or why not?